Shifter mechanism.



G. L. McGAIN.

SHIFTER MECHANISM. APPLIOAI'ION FILED AUG.19,1912.

Patented Dec. 1, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE L. MGCAIN, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO PACKARD MOTOR CAR COMPANY, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN.

SHIFTER MECHANISM.

Application filed August 19, 1912.

To all whom it may concern I Be it known that I, GEORGE L. MCCAIN, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Detroit, Wayne county, State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shifter Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to shifter mechanism and is shown as adapted to an electric starting system of an internal combustion motor.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a pair of oscillating arms having an interlocking dog for connecting them, with means for positively, as well as yieldingly, releasing the dog from its operative position.

Another object is to obtain this positive releasing feature in the mechanism shown without the addition of parts and without complication. Y

Other objects will appear from the following detail description taken in connection with the drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the forward part of a motor vehicle, showing particularly the motor and its starting mechanism; Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the shifter mechanism and its housing; Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, showing the movable parts in another position, and a part of the casing in elevation; Fig. 4 is a plan view of the shifter mechanism with the casing cover removed; and Fig. 5 is a detail.

Referring to the drawings. the side members of the vehicle frame are indicated at 10 and one of the cross members at 11, and upon this frame a six-cylinder motor 12 is supported, at the rear by the arms l3and at the forward end by any suitable means. not shown in the drawings. The motor consists of the supporting base or crank case 14, upon which. are mounted the cylinders 15, shown as cast in pairs. The motor crank shaft is operated by the pistons and connecting rods and has a fly wheel 16 secu'red to its rear end, and at its forward end it is suitably geared to a cam shaft 17, which is inclosed in the crank case and operates the valve lifters 18. The exhaust cams 19 are shown as formed with auxiliary rises 20 which are adapted to be brought intoaction by the endwise movement of the cam shaft for the purpose of raising the exhaust valves slightly on the compression stroke of the Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 1, 1914.

Serial No. 715,943.

through the cam shaft gear, is an auxiliary driving shaft 25 which is coupled to the armature shaft 26 of a motor-generator 27, shown as rigidly supported on one side of the base or crank case 14 of the motor. This shaft 25 may pass through the ignition distributing unit 28 and it may be provided with suitable universal joints or Oldham couplings 29 to take up slight disalinements.

The base or crank case 14: of the motor is extended around the fly wheel 16, forming a support for the rear bearing of the clutch 31, which is mounted in the fly wheel 16. This rear extension is also in the form of a housing 32 for the fly wheel and clutch and this housing is enlarged somewhat at a point adjacent the rear end of the motor-generator 27 forming a housing 33 for certain gears arranged between the motor-generator and the fly wheel which will be hereinafter more fully described. The clutch 31 is operated manually through a clutch operating shaft and a pedal lever 35, which extends upwardly through the foot board 36 of the vehicle in convenient position for the vehicle driver. The armature shaft 26 of the motor-generator 27 extends rearwardly into the casing 33 and there is a gear 37 mounted thereon which is adapted to mesh with the larger of a pair of sliding gears 38-39 on the stationary shaft 40, supported in the casing 33. The smaller gear 39 is adapted to mesh with the teeth 41 cut in the fly Wheel 16 at the same time that the gear 38 meshes with the gear 37. Thus when these gears are engaged, a double reduction is obtained between the shaft 26 and the motor crank shaft so that the motor-generator shaft will rotate say twenty times to one revolution of the motor crank shaft.

The gear 38 is connected to the gear 39 through a roller clutch of well known construction, such as that illustrated in Fig. 5. so that the gear 38 can always drive the gear 39 in a forward direction, but the gear 39 member 62 is integral with, or secured to gear 38. The rollers 63 are arranged between the outer cylindrical surface 64 and the inclined surfaces 65 so that when the external member 62 is rotated in the direc tion of the arrow the inner member or gear 39 is carried along with it, but at the same time the inner member 61 or gear 39 may rotate faster than the gear 38 without afi'ect-' ing the latter in any way. Suitable lubricating packing rolls 63 may be used. lit will also be understood that a similar roller clutch is arranged in the forward end of the motor-generator shaft 26 at 26 so that the driving shaft may always drive the armature forwardly, but the armature may rotate forwardly faster than the shaft 25 or independently of it, this faster rotation.

of the armature shaft taking place when the motor generator is used for starting. lit is believed to be unnecessary to describe in detail the roller clutch 26, as it is exactly similar in construction to that shown in Fig. 5. Means must be provided for shifting th gears 3839 and for changing the position of the controller which will be described hereinafter. This shifter mechanism is in the form of a casing 46 which is detachably secured to the casing 32 as by bolts 47. In this casing is supported a rock shaft which projects through the wall thereof and has keyed or otherwise secured thereto, an arm. 44 which is connected through a shifter rod 42 and a yoke 43 with the gears 38-3}9..

The entire shifter mechanism is housed within this casing 46 which is provided with a removable cover 48which retains a pair of rectangular blocks 49 arranged in the casing as shown in Figs. 3 and 4 to support the trunnions 50 of a spring device 51, -more .fully'hereinafter described. Inside of the casing '46, the rock shaft 45 has secured to asquare portion thereof, a sleeve 52, having an arm 53 extending radiallv therefrom toward the spring device 51, which latter is mounted near the opposite end of the casing. This spring device 51 is in theform of a cylinder mounted to oscillate on trunnions 50, and it contains a plunger 54 pressed outwardly by a spring 55 and having a guiding stem 56 extending through its closed end. The plunger 54 formed with a soclret'57 with which thesphenical head 56 of the mm 53 engages, m be seenparmiasea ticularly in Fig. 2. By the arrangement of suitable stops 59 and 60, which may be cast integral with the casing 46, the spring device 51' will yieldingly hold the rock shaft 45 and the parts attached to it, in either of two positions, viz: that shown in Fig. 2, or that indicated by the dotted line position of the spring device 513i] 51" in Fig.3. If the rock shaft is moved from one of these posi- I nals 70. The magnet 67 is adapted to at tract and operate a dog 71 pivoted at 72 on a third arm 73 extending radially from the sleeve 52 in the direction approximately opposite from the arm 53.. The dog 71 is retained in its normal inoperative position with its adjustable screw 74 against a stop 75 on the arm 73 by. means of a spring 76, and it is moved from-this position to operative position by the magnet 67. This dog is shown in its normal inoperative position in Fig. 2 and in its operative position in Fig. 3.

The rock shaft 45 may be oscillated by an operating shaft 77 and an arm 78 se-' cured thereon. The operating shaft 77 is preferably mounted out of line with the rock shaft 45, as shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, so that a slight oscillation of the shaft 77 will cause a somewhat greater oscillation of the rock shaft 45 as will be evident from the drawings. The arm 78 is preferably.

curved, as shown in drawings, to avoid the shaft 45, and its free end is odset forming a lug 79, which is adapted to travel inits oscillation adjacent the dog 71, and the dog 71 is provided with a lip 80, under which the lug 79 is adapted to catch when the dog is held in operative position by the mag-- net 67. The extreme lower position of the lug 79 is shown in full lines in Fig. 3 and the extreme upper position is shown in dottedlines at 79. in Fig. 3. The lug'assumes the latter; position only when it is free from the dog 71. v

lit will be understood that when the mag net 67, is energizedand the shaft 77 is operated, the lug 79 will catchthe dog 71 and carry with it the arm 73 and consequently rock the shaft 45 until'itl reaches the'position shown in full linesinFig. 3; Atthis moment, the "arm .53 and the spring device 51.,iacting as a toggle joint, aregen dead snap over and assume the position shown in dotted lines at 51 in Fig. 3. The spring device will, of course, carry the arm 53 with it and conse uently rock the shaft faster than the lug (9 is moving, so that the dog 1 is carried ahead of the lug and the lug will engage the shank 81 of the dog and cause the latter to be forced away from the magnet, in addition to the retracting action of the spring 76. This engagement of the lug 79 with the shank S1 is for the purpose of positively releasing the dog instead of depending entirely upon the spring 76. By this arrangement it is impossible for the dog to stick in the position shown in Fig. 3. It will be further understood that the magnet (37 will have been denergized by the time the parts reach the position shown in full lines in Fig. 3, so that the spring will presumably act to withdraw the dog the moment the spring device 51 snaps the rock shaft over dead center. This matter of positively releasing the dog is of the utmost importance, as should the spring 76 fail to release the dog after the motor had started and the clutch 31 be thrown out by the driver, the result would be that gear 39 would be pushed into contact with the edges of the gear teeth 41 on the fly wheel 16, with the result that some of the teeth of one of the gears would probably be stripped, as the peripheral velocity of the fly wheel would be considerably greater than that of the gear 39 under these conditions.

It will be seen that the operating shaft 77 may be operated entirely independently of the rock shaft 45 when the magnet 67 is deenergized as the dog 71 is not then in operative position. It will be understood that the operating shaft 77 projects through the wall of the casing 46, as shown particularly in Fig. 4, and it is approximately in line with, and is connected to be operated by, the clutch operating shaft which is rocked by the pedal lever 35. From this it will be seen that the operating shaft 77 moves with every oscillation of the clutch shaft, but the rock shaft 45 is operated only when the magnet 67is' energized.

In order that the compression relief may be operated at the time of starting the motor, the pin 24 is connected to the short arm of a lever 83, pivoted at 84, and the long arm of said lever is connected by a rod 85 with an offset arm 86 secured to the shifter "od 42. The rod 85 is adjustable as by the threaded connection 87 so that the gears 38-39 and the compression relief may operate together and allowance made for any slight variations in manufacture. The shifter rod 42 is also adjustably connected with the arm 44 by athreaded connection 89, so that variations in manufacture may be taken care of and changes in the position of the clutch lever 35 may be compensated for. It will be seen that by having these two adjustments, the relation of the gears 38-39 to the arm 44 may be changed without altering the position of the gears relative to the compression relief.

The motor generator 27 is adapted when operating as a generator to produce a current for filling the storage batteries 89 and a controller 90 normally connects these batteries in parallel, for charging. This controller 90 may be of any ordinary type and is operated by a rod 91, which may be connected by any suitable means (not shown) with the rod 92, which in turn is connected to the extremity of the arm 44, so that it is operated by the rock shaft 45.

Conductors A and B between the motorgcnerator 27 and the controller 90, will be used when the controller is in normal position and the motor-generator 27 is charg ing the batteries. A conductor C leads from a switch 93, arranged for convenient operation by the vehicle driver, to one of the terminals 70, and a conductor D leads from the other point of said switch 93 to the controller. A conductor E leads from the other terminal to the motor-generator and a branch F leads to the controller. An additional conductor G from the motorgenerator to the controller is also provided. In the operation of starting, the switch 93 will be closed by the-driver, which will cause a current of low voltage, say six volt, to pass from the batteries, through the controller and through conductor G to the motor-generator and through conductor D, switch 93, conductor G, binding post '70, magnet 67, the other binding post 70, and conductor E to the generator. This will cause the motor-generator to revolve slowly, and as the magnet is in series with the generator on the above described circuit, the dog 71 will be attracted and assume the position shown infull lines in Fig. 3. The operator will then disengage the clutch 31 by operating the 'lever 35, thus operating the shaft 77, and the lug 79 will engage the lip 80 and thereby rock the shaft 45 and the arm 44. Through the rod 42, the gears 3839 will be meshed with the gears 37 and 41 and the cam shaft 17 will be moved endwise to relieve the compression in the motor cylinders. The movement of the arm 44 will also move the controller mechanism 90 through the connecting rods 91 and 92 and the controller will then connect the four batteries 89 in series instead of in parallel, through conductors G, F and E, which will cause the motor generator 27 to operate on a higher voltage, say 24 volts, resulting in greater torque and speed and causing the fly wheel 16 to revolve if it has not already started to do so under the lower voltage. As soon as a suitable mixture has been drawn into the motor cylinders, the motor will start and run under its own power, the roller clutches above described taking care of the difierence in speed of the shafts 25 and 26 and the gears .38-39. Also as the motor starts, it will be understood that the driver will ree'ngage the clutch 31 and thus disengage thegears 3839, this taking place by reason of the fact that the, lug 79 engages the outer end of the arm 73 and pushes the latter back over dead center, so that the rock slidft l5 assumes the position shown in full lines in F ig. 2. Also the driver will havev previously opened the switch 93, this'being done in fact as soon as the lever 35 is operated to engage the gears 38-39. It will of course be understood.

that the clutch 31 is engaged by the. usual rheavy spring employed in motor vehicle clutches of this character, but not shown in the drawings. It will also be understood that all of the connections made by the controller 90 are not shown in the drawings, as it is believed that they would only be confusing and they do not form apart of applicants invention. It will be further understood that many modifications of the invention. as shown, may bemade without departingfrom the scope thereof, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the terms of the claims.-

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-:

1. In a shifter mechanism, the combination with an operating shaft and a, rock shaft, of an arm on each of said shafts, a dog on one of said arms adapted to couple the arms together, a magnet for moving said dog to coupling position, and'spring and positive means for releasing said dog.

:2. lln a shifter mechanism, the combination with an operating shaft and a rock shaft, of an armon each of said shafts, a

dogon one of said arms adapted to couple nnaaaa J the arms together, a magnet for moving said dog to coupling position, a spring for releasing said dog, and means for positively releasing said dog. v 1

3. In a shifter mechanism, the combination with an operating shaft and a rock shaft, of an arm on each of said shafts, a dog on one of said arms adapted to couple it to the other said arm, means to move the arms relatively, and means on said other 'arm for striking the dog and releasing it as the arms are moved relatively. kl

d. In a shifter mechanism, the combination with an operating shaft and a rock shaft, of an arm on each of said shafts, one of said arms having an ofiset portion, a dog on the other said arm adapted to couple said arms together and arranged in the path of travel of said ofi'set portion; and means for moving said arms relatively whereby portion as the operating shaft arm moves in one direction and to be positively disengaged by said ofiset portion as said shaft moves in the reverse direction, and a magnet adapted to move said dog against its.

spring to operative relation with said oflset portion. t

In testimony whereof afiix my slgnature in the presence of two witnesses.

' GEORGE L. MCCAIN. Witnesses:

Anrnn Looarrs, Geo. 1E. Gonnann. 

